Mudgeeraba residents report pest invasion as foxes kill chickens, native wildlife on Gold Coast

Gold Coast residents say a wild animal not seen in areas for years has returned to kill chickens and native wildlife at an alarming rate.

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MUDGEERABA residents say foxes have returned after a long hiatus and are killing chickens and native wildlife.

Justine Keep-Bovingdon said three of her chickens were devoured by a fox last week.

Her family has been forced to lock their hen house at night for the first time in eight years.

“My daughter had gone to collect eggs from the chickens and she came back quite upset,” Ms Keep-Bovingdon said.

“We only found the remains of one head – nothing else.”

She said it was particularly upsetting as her family had been handraising the chickens as pets since the pandemic started.

Ms Keep-Bovingdon said the fox situation in Mudgeeraba was out of control.

And she’s not alone. Several residents have posted their concerns about increased fox sightings on a community Facebook group.

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One man said he spotted two fox cubs this week after 20 years of not seeing one in Mudgeeraba.

“I lost my six chooks last month and I’m assuming to foxes, the way some were left,” Facebook user Julie Anderson wrote.

“Lost three chooks six weeks ago to foxes (in) Worongary,” Niki Burton wrote.

Others reported frequent fox sightings in Mudgeeraba, Bonogin and Worongary.

A Gold Coast City Council spokeswoman said the city had received 11 customer requests about foxes in the past three months.

Of this, there was one request each in Mudgeeraba, Gilston, Coombabah, Tallai and Worongary, four in Tallebudgera and two in Currumbin Valley.

Mudgeeraba residents have reported increased sightings of foxes.

The council spokeswoman said fox complaints had not increased and remained low across the Gold Coast.

“Surveillance on city-owned and managed land has also not shown an increase in fox detections,” she said.

“Free-ranging poultry is a major attraction for foxes. Attacks on poultry may be prevented by keeping all poultry within an appropriate enclosure, especially at night.

“Any fox control measures put into place while poultry are free ranging are likely to be unsuccessful.”

The spokeswoman said under the Biosecurity Act 2014, it was the landowner’s responsibility to manage foxes on their land.

“The City has fox management operations in place on City-owned and managed land, including surveillance and trapping,” she said.

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